Archives for June 2016

What do you look for when you buy a toy for your Favourite Feline? Colour? Price? Celebrity endorsement? We thought long and hard about what makes a good cat toy when we created the toys for our Cat Habitat range. Of course there’s no one toy which will float every cat’s boat, but there are certain attributes that you should look for when choosing your next toy.

What to look for when you choose a cat toy:

Safety: Cat play can get pretty aggressive so make sure whatever you are giving your favourite feline to play with doesn’t have anything sharp such as pieces of wire, which can cut them or you. Check that any parts that can potentially become separated from the toy won’t do damage if swallowed. Here I would include those plastic eyes that are stuck to toys, or any kind of rubber band that can get lodged in puss cat’s intestinal tract

Interaction & Independence: Hopefully your cat likes you, and therefore wants to spend time playing with you. As such have one or two toys that your favourite feline and you play with together like our Cat Teasers.
Soph doing her best at killing her Ewe Who Cat Teaser toy.

Likewise, you’ll need a couple of others that can be left out that they can play with independently while you’re not around, helping pass the time until you come home again. Both our Fur Balls and The Whole Box and Mice fit the bill nicely here, and should a bare human foot tread on them, it won’t hurt!

Fingers and toes: Avoid toys that require your cat to attack human fingers or toes especially with kittens as this will be giving them the signal that your digits are pieces of play equipment to be chased, bitten and hunted for the entire duration of your life together

Toys that make noise: If you insist on buying a toy with a bell or any other noise making equipment, I think it should be a requirement that said toy be sold along with a set of earplugs. That tinkling sound will send you bonkers. I have a blanket ban on any toys that make noise at Cat Habitat HQ because I need no additional assistance in going bonkers thank you very much;

Your mine mouse!

Size: As with most things in life, size really does matter. This is particularly true when it comes to toys that are intended as substitute prey satisfying puss cat’s need to hunt. If we look at the types of prey outdoor cats come home with, and then kindly leave on the doormat, the deceased critters are usually skinks, mice, maybe a small bird. Their common characteristics being that (while alive!) they are small and light, enabling them to move fast. As we were creating our Fur Balls and Whole Box & Mice toys, we watched how Pussa and Soph would play with them and observed how they were light enough to be batted around and rolled along the floor, and also small enough for them to carry them in their mouths;

Catnip?: I read recently that only about 50% of cats are stimulated by catnip, and Pussa and Soph are definitely in the other 50% who don’t give a toss about the stuff. Frankly if the toy is rubbish to begin with, stuffing it full of catnip is unlikely to make it any better.

My fellow Pet Parent and I have bought some absolute shocker cat toys over the years. I would probably vote as our worst purchase what I can only describe as a catified version of a human baby’s play mat. It came complete with two arches that went diagonally across the mat from which various synthetic felt animals, mirrors and bells hung off. It was ugly, stupid and neither Pussa nor Soph gave it the time of day. It was on sale though.

Simple toys are often the best, and if they come in a paper bag or box, then you can have the toy and the cat will entertain itself with the packaging.

These days there’s a wide choice when it comes to cat litter. There are 4 types most commonly available in Australia, categorised according to the material they are manufactured from. These are:

Clay

Paper

Silicone

Wood

But what factors should you consider when it comes to deciding what type of cat litter you should choose? At risk of stating the obvious, first and foremost it should be one that your cat will actually use. Even if it ticks all your other boxes, if your favourite feline doesn’t use it, well then it’s just academic.

After considerable debate between Pussa and Soph we came up with the following list of what to think about before you hit the checkout with your next litter purchase:

Pussa & Soph’s checklist for cat litter

A few final tips when it comes to litter:

Regardless of what some manufacturers claim, don’t flush your litter down the toilet. The people at the sewerage treatment works only want 3 things being flushed – pee, poo and toilet paper. Let’s face it, they already have enough problems on their hands with “flushable” wipes. I don’t think we need to add to their woes with cat litter, nor be responsible for spreading toxoplasmosis amongst the population;

If you compost biodegradable litter, make sure you don’t use the compost on food crops in your garden. The compost will not heat up sufficiently to kill off the pathogens, so use it only on non-food garden plants;

For kittens, stick to paper based litter. Like human babies, kittens love to explore the world by putting things in their mouths. The absorbancy attributes of clay and silicone litters can be a real risk to kitten’s digestive systems.

If you’re wondering what litter gets used at Cat Habitat HQ, it’s this. While all litter types have pro’s and con’s, this one ticks the majority of boxes according to Pussa and Soph, and we love it because it’s Australian made.

I will never be the poster girl as an early adopter of trends. New mobile phone releases, anyone with a surname of Kardashian, women’s fashion in pretty much all of its forms, are things which by and large pass me by without causing a blip on my radar. And so I arrive late to the discussion of the merits of whether I should feed my cat raw food. This seemingly has become a hot topic both for humans and their pets.

Putting the food itself to one side for a moment, I’ve always followed the basics of feeding – feed in an area away from the litter tray, use a cat feeding mat to keep stuff off the floor, where it’s well-lit so they don’t feel their “predators” are going to attack them, and feed at the same times each day. Thus far my regime for better or for worse has been tinned food in the morning and dry food at night. To date this appears to have served both Pussa and Soph pretty well as we’ve managed to avoid ill health, kept shiny coats and required no additional vet visits outside our annual pilgrimage. Nonetheless, every time I hear the lid peeling off the top of the tin, I have that pang of guilt that I could be doing better for them in the nutrition stakes.

As you’d expect everyone in the bloggersphere seems to have an opinion on what you should feed your cat. A fair whack of those appear to be intent on wracking guilt upon those of us who have even a fleeting consideration of feeding any creature residing in our home something commercially produced. However, my approach still remains a 50/50 dry/wet regime. I don’t claim this to be in any way scientific but based more on some common sense principals:

Commons sense principals of what to feed your cat:

Cats are strict obligate carnivores, meaning their nutrition is derived from animal based protein and not plant based. That puts a strike against dry food as this is largely manufactured from various cereals and grains, and why there are some who advocate a wet-food only diet, but then how do I deal with dental health? Brushing? I’d need to sedate Soph to even attempt that!

Dental health for cats is a common problem and I’m sure you’ve also been told that the dry food kibble formulas designed for oral care are good to keep this issue under control. We need to watch this particularly with Soph because she hoovers up the small kibble, but the oral care versions are larger which forces her to chew on them. That’s the theory and I can only take the advice of the vet who has said their teeth look fine

Despite always having water available some cats will not receive adequate hydration unless they consume it through wet food. It is thus critical to include wet food in their diet to avoid painful urinary tract problems

The convenience factor. At risk of sounding like a slack Pet Parent I can tell you right now I am never going to be making my own cat food from scratch. When I read some of the blogs about people making their own cat food, I’m thinking “really…how much time have you got on your hands lady?”. Seriously, grinding up bones and skin and intestinal tracts of a chicken is a good way to spend your time? Not for this Pet Parent it isn’t. Recently however I’ve been feeding more fresh mince and that has been particularly well received by Pussa. The raw chicken wings have yet to take the household by storm, and frankly Soph seems to have no idea what to do with them. Still, we shall persevere and see if they have some kind of renaissance.

Why is there is nothing in this pantry for me to eat!

The future of cat feeding at Cat Habitat HQ

Unless there is a marked increase in the number of hours in the day, I’m going to have to give raw food feeding a miss, and my concern is more around the nutritional quality of processed cat food anyway. Pet food manufacturers talk about their products being “complete and balanced” foods meaning that they contain all the nutrients in the right quantities that your puss cat needs. This being said meat products will need a form of preserving to give them shelf life, and as with processed foods for humans, this is what starts to make me sceptical. I avoid processed foods in my own diet as much as possible, so why would I not extend that to the feline members of the family? Those who run an anti-dry food argument do so on the basis that there is way too much carbohydrate in dry food as the grains that go into the manufacturing process are significantly cheaper than animal protein with the result being a bigger profit margin for the manufacturers. I don’t disagree with this rationale. However, if I stop the dry food what do I do about dental health? I suspect that if I could get Pussa and Soph to eat some raw bones, that would keep their teeth in good nick and replicates how it would be dealt with in the wild. Hmmmm….now there’s a challenge for me.

A few years after adopting Pussa and Soph, my fellow Pet Parent and I moved from Australia to Singapore for work. It probably comes as no surprise that at the top of our list of items to relocate were 2 cats, way ahead of an apartments-worth of household chattels.

As we all know, life is a strange thing and when it came to contemplating the move I was pretty comfortable with relocating the cats having worked for a few years in the cargo department of an international airline. The airline I worked for transported lots of animals so sending our two Favourite Felines as unaccompanied minors was an easier decision for me than for a lot of people because I had a fair idea of the process.

If moving overseas is something that is, or might be on your radar, and you want to take your pets then there are a number of things to consider before you pack up your life.

What to consider before moving overseas with your pets:

The age and health condition of your pet. Undoubtedly there are many aspects of the move that may distress your pet, so they need to be in the best of health to handle it. Furthermore, the importing country will have their own health requirements that your pet will need to satisfy for you to be able to import them into the country;

What your new living arrangements are likely to be. Have you been living in a house with your cat free to roam the backyard and beyond, but when you move likely to be living in a high rise apartment with no prospect of puss getting outside? Are there restrictions on having pets in certain types of accommodation? This was the case for us in Singapore. Furthermore, when you first arrive in your new country you’ll probably be in some kind of temporary accommodation like a serviced apartment or hotel, neither of which are likely to welcome 4 legged children. Who can you leave them with while you sort out your new permanent home?

All animals being transported (with the exception of assistance dogs) out of (and within) Australia travel as cargo and you will not be able to have them in the cabin with you. This prospect can upset some people but it’s very rare that things go awry during transport. Your pet will be secured in the cargo hold beneath the tail of the aircraft, the captain is notified that the aircraft has live animals on-board so the temperature of the hold is adjusted accordingly, and they are the final items to be loaded onto the aircraft so as to avoid unnecessary distress to your pet;

Use a cage that meets IATA regulations. I can’t stress this enough. The plastic one that you got from the $2 shop that you use to ferry puss from home to the vet and back is not going to cut it for use on a commercial aircraft. Amongst other things the locking mechanism is not secure enough and the plastic is thin resulting in those cages not being robust enough to withstand the handling. In fact, airlines will refuse to accept your pet if it is delivered for uplift in a cage that does not meet the regulations;

Some airlines may allow you to book your pet’s travel direct with their cargo department (the airline I worked for did), however I would strongly recommend you use a freight forwarder who specialises in animal transport. Not only do they know exactly what needs to be done and when, but they will have arrangements in place with another agent at the receiving port to accept your pet on arrival. This will be really important for release through customs and quarantine at the other end, as well as the logistics involved in getting your pet from the airport to your new home. When we left Australia we used Jet Pets and they were brilliant;

There is every likelihood that your pets will need some vaccinations before they travel. Often within tight timeframes such as within 3 days of departure. Because the vaccinations that are required are often not the run of the mill jabs that a vet will administer, my advice is to see if you can find a vet that is also government-certified since they will be very familiar with the vaccinations required by various countries. If you are a Sydney local we used 4 Paws Vet in Neutral Bay;

With Australia having a very strict quarantine regime (just ask Pistol and Boo what happened to their Pet Parents) make sure you consider the degree of difficulty involved in bringing your pet back when you want to come home. Australia categories countries from which your pet is coming from as 1, 2, 3 or non-approved. Group 1 is the least complex and it basically covers animals coming from New Zealand. Group 2 requires an import permit, meeting vaccination requirements, plus a stay in quarantine (as at June 2016 this is 10 nights for cats and dogs) on returning from places like Singapore, Japan and many of the Pacific Islands. Group 3 countries include most European countries, the UK, the US & Canada, Hong Kong and parts of the Middle East. These countries have similar requirements as the Group 2 countries, including the quarantine time. Any other countries not listed under the above categories are non-approved countries which prohibits you from importing directly from these countries. This would include countries like China, Korea, and Sth Africa. There is an ability to get your pet back from a non-approved country via a Group 2 or 3 country but it’s difficult, more expensive and will take a while. Decide before you leave Australia if you’re up for that;

The cost. This is not an insignificant consideration as the whole exercise will run into thousands of dollars per animal for the round trip. There are many costs associated with an international move of animals beyond paying the airline to uplift them. A massive component is the cost of the import permit and compulsory quarantine stay on return to Australia. As at June 2016 the import permit will cost a minimum of $480 for the first cat (or dog) and then $240 for each animal in the same consignment. That’s just to give you permission to bring them in, you haven’t paid for the 10 night stay yet. That’ll be, a rather jaw dropping, $1,200 importation levy plus $29 per night for each animal. There are also additional fees for vet inspections, and other rather vague fees for “quarantine entry” and “document clearance”. Essentially it means that you’re looking at more than $1,600 for each animal assuming all things go well. Apparently this is cost recovery. Two humans could stay 5 nights at the Hilton in Sydney for less than that! Oh, and now there is only one quarantine facility which accepts cats and dogs for all of Australia which is in Melbourne. That means another flight for your pet if you’re not picking up from Melbourne.

Soph will live anywhere provided she has her Cat Cot.

There’s a lot to consider if you’re taking animals with you on an overseas move and frankly, many people thought we were a bit bonkers. I think life would have felt pretty lonely if they hadn’t have come with us, and nor would we have given them the opportunity to experience life as an Expat Cat.